Pull locking control for closures



y 1950 H; EICHACKER PULL LOCKING CONTROL FOR CLOSURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Aug. 29, 1947 INVENTOR. HOMER .E'fwC'KER,

HTTOHZVEK l lllllll J F.

b D p July 4, 1950 H. EIQHACKER PULL LOCKING CONTROL FOR CLOSURES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 19

IN VEN TOR. 112721121? ETCHQC'JZ'L'ZP) Patented July 4, 1950 PULLLOCKING CONTROL FOR CLOSURES Homer Eichacker, Indianapolis, Ind,assignor to Vonnegut Hardware Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporationof Indiana Application August 29, 1947, Serial No. 771,169

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a pull locking control for closures,and is more particularly concerned with the provision of a latch actuating and locking assembly, associable, if desired, with a standard panicexit device or latch assembly, and so constructed that a pull handle,presented on the outside surface of the door, will be automaticallyoperated, by the exertion of a pulling force. thereon, to retract thestandard panic device latch bolts and to swing the door toward openposition. So far as I am advised, I am the first to have conceived theprovision of such an assembly adapted to be mounted on the outer surfaceof a door equipped with a standard panic exit device, for cooperationwith that device.

While the primary object of the invention is to provide such anorganization as that just described, a further important object of theinvention is to provide key-actuated blocker means operable, at times,to block the latch actuating mechanism against movement in alatch-retracting direction. A further object is to provide improvedblocker means for cooperation with such an actuator. A still furtherobject is to provide an improved association between a standard mortiselock cylinder cam and a blocker means of the character above-described.And a still further object is to provide a blocker element, in anassemblage of the character here under consideration, of such characterthat it may be assembled in one position to prevent removal of the keyfrom the lock cylinder unless the blocker element is in blockingrelation with the latchactuating element, or may alternatively beassembled in another position so that the key can be removed whether theblocker element is or is not in blocking relation with thelatch-actuating element.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention maybe embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstruction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

Fig. l is a front elevation of an assembly constructed in accordancewith the presen invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough, showing the assembly mountedupon a door and showing also its cooperation with the center case of astandard form of panic exit device;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 3-3 ofFig. 1;

Fig. i is a similar section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig.1;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the locking control assembly, parts beingshown in section;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the blocker elementarranged in a different position;

Fig. 7 is a fragmental rear elevation of the assembly of Fig. 6-,showing parts after actuation to a difierentpos-ition; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view, upon a reduced scale, of my improvedblocker element.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that I haveillustrated a fragment of a door I ll to the inner surface of which issecured a panic exit device center case H enclosing latch actuatingmechanism, not shown except for an abutment element 12 associated with apull rod l3 and providing a pressure shelf M, illustrated in dottedlines in Fig. 2, forming no part of the present invention, butillustrated for the purpose of disclosing the manner of cooperation ofmy improved actuator with standard equipment.

My pull locking control, indicated generally by the reference numeral15, comprises a housing I 6 formed to provide bearings 11, I! for ajournal pin l 8, whose axis is parallel with the outer surface of thedoor I8 when the assembly I5 is mounted thereon, and upon which isjournalled a lever l9. An aperture 2|] in the lower front wall of thehousing it permits the projection of one arm 2| of the lever from thehousing and into substantial parallelism with the adjacent surface ofthe door l0; and an aperture 22' in the rear wall of the housing permitsthe projection therefrom of the arm 23 of the lever 19. A spring 24tends to hold the lever l9 against clockwise movement about its axis.

Above the bearings 11, the housing 16 is formed to provide a mountingsleeve 25 for a standard mortise lock pin tumbler cylinder 26, the innerend of said cylinder being threaded as at 21 for the accommodation of anut 28 adapted to be turned up against the inner end of the sleeve 25 tosecure the cylinder in place. The standard actuator cam of the cylinderis indicated by the reference numeral 29; and the cylinder is pro--vided with the usual key-way 30 in its rotating plug.

A blocker element, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3!, isprovided intermediate its ends with a journal aperture 32 adapted to bemounted upon a stud 33 which is preferably integral with the housing I6'; and a screw 34- may be turned into a tapped bore in said stud tosecure said blocker element oscillably in position upon said stud.

The blocker element is formed to provide an arm 35 offset from the axisof the bore 32 and terminating in an. abutment member 36; When theelement 3i is mounted upon the stud 33, the

' 3 offset arm 35 will be positioned to flank the lever arm 23, the ram35 lying closely adjacent the lever arm 23 when the abutment 36 ispositioned in blocking relation with the lever arm 23.

On the opposite side of the bore 32, the element 3| is formed as a ring31 having a radially projecting pocket 38 flanked by walls 39 and 49which are parallel with each other and with a plane including the axisof the-actuator cam 29 and the axis of the bore 32, said walls beingequally and oppositely offset from said plane. As is most clearlyillustrated in Fig. 8, the wall 39 has a dimension, in a directionnormal to the plane of oscillation of the blocker element 3|,considerably greater than the corresponding dimension of the cam 29,while the wall 4|! has a much smaller dimension in that direction, beingcut away or notched at 4| to definea wall 42 parallel with the walls 39and 49 and considerably farther spaced from said reference plane. Iprefer to space the walls 39 and 40 a distance substantially equal tothe dimension of the cam 29 in the direction of oscillation of said cam;while the wall 42 is spaced from the wall 39 by a distance substantiallyequal to such dimension of the cam 29 increased by the distance throughwhich the wall 39 moves as the blocker element 3| shifts from one limitof its path to the other limit thereof. The functions of these wallswill appear herebelow.

A finger 43 projects upwardly from the blocker element 3|, and a finger44 projects downwardly from a portion of the housing IS, :a coiledspring 45 being confined between said fingers to act as a resilienttoggle tending to hold the blocker member 3| resiliently at either limitof its stroke.

The lever arm .23 is formed with a surface 46 engageable by the abutment39, at times, whereby said lever is positively held againstlatch-retracting movement. The assembly may preferably be secured inplace on the door H] by means of screws 41 projected through the doorand entering threaded studs provided on the rear surface of the housingl6; and the door will, of course, be formed with a perforation 48through which projects the lever arm 23 into cooperative relation withthe surface l4.

When the parts are assembled in the positions illustrated in Fig. 5, thewalls 39 and 49 of the pocket 39 lie in closely straddling registry withthe opposite sides of the cam 29. Oscillation of said cam in acounter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, will withdraw theabutment element 36 from registry with the surface 46 of the lever arm23. Thereupon, if the handle 2| is grasped and a force is exerted towardthe left. as viewed in Fig. 2, the lever 9 will be oscillated in aclockwise direction, the pull rod l3 will be drawn downwardly to releasethe latches from their keepers, and a continuation of the force exertedupon the handle 2| will swing the door l9 toward the left as viewed inFig, 2. The cylinder 28, of course, is of such character that the keycannot be withdrawn from the key-way 3|) except when the cam 29 is inthe position illustrated in Fig. 5. Since any movement'of the cam 29 ineither direction will bring that cam into contact with the wall 39 orwith the wall 49, it will be clear that the key cannot be removed fromthe cylinder until the abutment element 36 has been returned to blockingrelation with the surface 46 of the lever arm 23. It will be clear that,as the blocker element 3| moves from the solid line position to thedotted line position of Fig. 5, the lower end of the spring 45 will be 4moved past dead center to hold the blocker element 3| resiliently in thedotted line position; and that, when the blocker element has beenreturned to its solid line position, this spring 45 will return to itsillustrated position to hold the blocker element resiliently in itssolid line position.

If the purchaser of the illustrated assembly desires to arrange towithdraw the key from the cylinder while leaving the latch in conditionto be actuated by the lever l9, he need only remove the entire assemblyl5 from the door by withdrawing the screws 41, withdraw the screw 34and, after removing the blocker element 3| from the stud 33, invert thatelement and replace it on the stud. The screw 34 will now be replaced,the assembly I5 will be rearranged on the door, with the lever arm 23again projecting through the opening 48 into cooperative relation withthe table l4, and the screws 41 will be replaced to secure the assemblyIS in position. Now, the blocker element will occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 6. Movement of the cam 29 in a clockwise direction willremove the abutment element 36 from engagement with the surface 46 ofthe lever arm 23, and will shift the blocker element to the positionillustrated in Fig. 7. The spring 45, of course, will resiliently holdthe blocker element in its new position. Since the notch 4| nowregisters with the cam 29, the key may be returned to its initialposition, swinging the cam .29 to the position illustrated in Fig. 7, inwhich position said cam merely contacts the wall 42, whereupon the keymay be removed from the cylinder leaving the blocker element 3| out ofcooperative relation with the lever arm 23, In order to return theabutment element 33 to engagement with the surface 46, the key must bereinserted in the key-way and turned in the opposite direction, to swingthe cam 29 in a counter-clockwise direction from the position 11-lustrated in Fig, 7. During such movement, the cam 29 cooperates withthe wall 42 of the blocker element 3| to return said element to theposition of Fig. 6; whereafter the cam 29 is key-turned to the positionof Fig. 6, whereupon the key may be withdrawn from the cylinder.

I claim as my invention:

1. Latch actuating means comprising a lever, a blocker elementcomprising a bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends for swingingmovement in a plane substantially parallel with the axis of movement ofsaid lever and provided, adjacent one end, with an abutment positionableat times in the path of movement of said lever. and an actuator for saidblocker element, said blocker element providing two surfaces located atopposite sides of said actuator and respectively engageable by saidactuator, upon movement of said actuator in opposite directions, toshift said blocker element in opposite directions.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said two surfaces are spaced apart adistance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in thedirection of actuator movement.

3. The device of claim 1 in which said two surfaces face each other andare spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the dimension of saidactuator in the direction of actuator movement increased bysubstantially the xtent of movement of one of said surfaces when saidblocker element moves from one limit of its path to the other.

4..The device of claim 1 in which one of said surfaces has a dimension,in a direction normal to the plane of movement Of said actuator, atleast double the dimension of said actuator in the same direction, whilethe other of said surfaces has a portion adjacent one face of saidblocker element spaced from said first-named surface a distancesubstantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the directionof actuator movement, and a portion adjacent the opposite face of saidblocker element spaced from said firstnamed surface a distancesubstantiall equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction ofactuator movement increased by substantially the extent of movement ofOne of said surfaces when said blocker element moves from one limit ofits path to the other.

5. In a device of the class described, a housing, a transverse fulcrummember terminally supported in said housing, a latch actuating levermounted for oscillation on said fulcrum member and projecting at bothends from said housing, pivot means in said housing substantially in theplane of movement of said lever, a blocker element formed intermediateits ends for cooperation with said pivot means, whereby said blockerelement is pivotally supported in said housing to swing in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said lever, saidblocker element including a bar offset from said pivot means andflanking said lever, said bar carrying abutment means associable withsaid lever to block movement thereof in one direction, an actuator forsaid blocker element mounted within said housing for oscillation aboutan axis parallel with said pivot means, said blocker element includingmeans oppositely engageable by said actuator for shifting said blockerelement in opposite directions.

6. In a device of the class described, a housing, a transverse fulcrummember terminally supported in said housing, a latch actuating levermounted for oscillation on said fulcrum member and projecting at bothends from said housing, pivot means in said housing substantially in theplane of movement of said lever, a blocker element formed intermediateits ends for cooperation with said pivot means, whereby said blockerelement is pivotally supported in said housing to swing in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said lever, saidblocker element including a bar offset from said pivot means andflanking said lever, said bar carrying abutment means associable withsaid lever to block movement thereof in one direction, an actuator forsaid blocker element mounted within said housing for oscillation aboutan axis parallel with said pivot means, said blocker element including apair of oppositely-facing abutments respectively engageable by saidactuator, upon movement of said actuator in opposite directions, forshifting said abutment means into and out of blocking relation with saidlever.

7. In a device of the class described, a housing, a transverse fulcrummember terminally supported in said housing, a latch actuating levermounted for oscillation on said fulcrum member and projecting at bothends from said housing, pivot means in said housing substantially in theplane of movement of said lever, a blocker element formed intermediateits ends for cooperation with said pivot means, whereby said blockerelement is reversibly pivotally supported in said housing to swing in aplane substantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of saidlever, said blocker element including a bar offset from said pivot meansand flanking said lever upon one side or the other thereof dependingupon the reversible position of said blocker element, said bar carryingabutment means associable with said lever to block movement thereof inone direction, an actuator for said blocker element mounted within saidhousing for oscillation about an axis parallel with said pivot means,said blocker element including a pair of mutually facing surfaceslocated, when said blocker element is in one position on said pivotmeans, in the opposite paths of said actuator and spaced apart adistance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in thedirection of actuator movement, and a pair of mutually facing surfaceslocated, when said blocker element is in reversed position on said pivotmeans, in the opposite paths of said actuator and spaced apart adistance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in thedirection of actuator movement increased by substantially the extent ofmovement of one of said surfaces when said blocker element moves fromone limit of its path to the other.

8. The device of claim 5 including spring toggle means cooperating withsaid blocker element to hold the same resiliently at either end of itspath.

9. The device of claim '7 including spring toggle means cooperating withsaid blocker element to hold the same resiliently at either end of itspath.

10. As an article of manufacture for use with an oscillatory actuator, ablocker member adapted to be supported, intermediate its ends, foroscillation about an axis parallel with the axis of such actuator, saidmember providing, in planes parallel with a single plane including saidaxis, a first surface offset in one direction from said single plane, asecond surface oppositel offset from said single plane and spaced fromsaid first-named surface a distance substantially equal to the dimensionof said actuator in the direction of actuator movement, and a thirdsurface likewise oppositely offset from said single plane and spacedfrom said first-named surface a distance substantially equal to thedimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movementincreased by substantially the extent of movement of one of saidsurfaces when said blocker element moves from one limit of its path tothe other, said second and third surfaces being offset from each otherin a direction normal to the plane of movement of said actuator, andsaid third surface having a dimension in said direction at least equalgo the dimension of said actuator in said direcion.

HOMER EICHACKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,406,231 :Seaholm Feb. 14, 19221,867,606 Van Sickles July 19, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date351,516 Italy Aug. 13, 1937

